What is "Secure VPN" and do I need it?

[opps]

Something not mentioned above is that when you access, for example, your banking website, the traffic is encrypted. NO one can sniff it.

It is however possible for a dodgy free wifi access point to perform a "man in the middle" attack. They can pretend to be your bank when you type in the website address. They can redirect you to a fake bank site and ask for your log in details. A VPN might help in those cases, assuming that your VPN is trustworthy though.

Personally, I only use VPNs to access sites blocked in the UK, such as piratebay.

That said, although I haven't used Kodi for a while to "steal" movies, it I used it regularly, I would use a VPN (and then hope that they they wouldn't sell me out.

Pay for VPN access if you want to, but most people scammed on the internet are victims of phishing. A VPN will not help in such cases.

 

[Captain Nemesis]

Free VPNs have to pay for themselves somehow and the only things they can sell are your data or adverts to you.

Or they could offer a perfectly honourable but performance-limited free service as a SIAS to tempt people to sign up for the chargeable one.

 

[rossj81]

Some providers spend a portion of their marketing budget on providing a free service with a low cap, with the expectation that people will try it out then buy a larger cap.